Trajectory of Islamic psychology in Southeast Asia: Problems and prospects

Abstract

This study aims to answer the following research question: what are the problems and prospects of the development of Islamic psychology studies in Southeast Asia? This study used descriptive qualitative research and employs data triangulation during data collection. Documentation study, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to obtain the data. Data were analysed using patterns of data collection, data reduction, data presentation and conclusion drawing. It can be concluded that Islamic psychology presents many problems and prospects for those who are concerned about the development of Islamic science. The finding strengthens the perspective that there are three problems of developmental studies of Islamic psychology in Southeast Asia: (1) the discussion on the issue still focuses on theoretical integration and philosophical levels rather than on applicative ones; (2) methodological problems; and (3) polarisation of the capacity of Muslim psychologists. Apart from the problems, the development of Islamic psychology studies has good prospects. This indication can be seen from the following transformations: (1) from the formulation phase towards the research phase, (2) from comparative study patterns towards developing concepts of psychology based on Islam and (3) from a normative-cognitive approach towards the substantive-Sufistic approach. Contribution: Through this study, it is hoped that strategic attempts will be made by Muslim psychologists to collaborate and develop networks on designing more targeted studies in solving the various problems that arise around the integration of psychology and Islam at the ontological, epistemological or axiological levels.

Keywords

• islamic psychology
• southeast asia
• normative-cognitive approach
• sufistic approach
• polarisation